1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS) headend system, and more particularly, to a DCAS headend system that may process an error of Secure Micro (SM) Client Software, and a method of removing an error of a DCAS headend system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS) has started to appear in a cable broadcasting field. In a cable broadcasting field that provides pay broadcast contents as a main business model, an established open cable standard defines that a conditional access module is separated from a receiver of a subscriber so that an exclusive supplier of a receiver company may be prevented from emerging, and so that a cable broadcast service may be provided regardless of a service provider and a service area.
In accordance with the established open cable standard, the conditional access module independent of the receiver may be standardized as a cable card in a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card type, and a cable service provider may provide subscribers with only cable cards, instead of receivers, so that pay broadcast services may be provided. The open cable standard was expected to enable consumers to select among a greater number of receivers, and expected to reduce costs related to a conditional access system of a cable service provider. However, it was difficult to obtain the expected results in an actual service operation, due to an increase in prices and managing costs of cable cards, and disinterest in a receiver retail market.
Accordingly, a DCAS technology has been developed by which a cable service provider enables conditional access software to be downloaded in a receiver of a subscriber using a conventional cable network so that a pay broadcast service may be provided, without separately including a hardware-based conditional access module in a terminal of a subscriber.
A DCAS and a terminal perform mutual authentication and downloading of Secure Micro (SM) Client Software through a DCAS mutual authentication protocol operation. Accordingly, the terminal receives the SM Client Software running on an SM of the terminal from the DCAS headend system. The SM Client Software may include various versions based on hardware and software versions of the terminal, and may be subject to an actual test and validation and may be transmitted to the terminal.
However, an error may occur during a reception and an installation of SM Client Software due to an error of a manufacturer of the SM Client Software, an unexpected operation of a terminal, or an error of an operator of a DCAS headend system. When the error is not instantly processed, an excessive amount of bidirectional communication traffic may be induced, or loads may be excessively increased in the DCAS headend system due to excessive retransmission requests of a terminal.